Israel Protests a Move to Recognize Palestinian State

JERUSALEM — Israel summoned the Swedish ambassador to the Foreign Affairs Ministry here on Monday to protest the announcement by the new center-left government in Stockholm that it intended to recognize a state of Palestine.

Sweden would be the first major member of the European Union to recognize Palestine, although some East European countries did so during the Cold War, before they joined the union. Israel fears that Swedish recognition could lead other major European countries to follow suit, a trend Israeli officials argued would pre-empt the results of future negotiations over a Palestinian state within agreed borders.

Countering the Israeli criticism, the Swedish foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, wrote on her Twitter account on Monday that “two less unequal partners would facilitate negotiations.” She added, “We must respect Israeli reaction — but we are prepared to lead the way.”

Speaking on Israel Radio before the meeting at the Foreign Ministry, Carl Magnus Nesser, the Swedish ambassador to Israel, said that there was no date yet for Sweden’s recognition of a Palestinian state but that “it will happen within the not-too-distant future.”

Israel, with the backing of the United States, has strongly opposed the Palestinian strategy of pursuing statehood through diplomatic means at the United Nations and in the world arena, describing it as a unilateral Palestinian effort to internationalize the conflict in violation of previous agreements.

Mr. Nesser was summoned on Monday by Aviv Shir-On, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s deputy director general for European affairs, who expressed Israel’s “concern and disappointment” over Mr. Lofven’s remarks, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. The Swedish position “creates the unrealistic anticipation that the Palestinians will be able to achieve their goal unilaterally rather than by negotiations with Israel,” the statement added.

Israel found Sweden’s focus on the Palestinian issue “puzzling and misplaced” given the bloodshed taking place elsewhere in the Middle East, the statement continued. It said the Swedish ambassador promised to convey the message to his government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel criticized the Swedish policy on Sunday, saying in a statement: “Unilateral moves are contrary to agreements. They will not bring peace closer, they will distance it. An agreement will only be reached through negotiations which will ensure Israel’s national interests, with the security of Israel’s citizens foremost among them.”

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s blunt-talking foreign minister, said in a statement that Mr. Lofven “apparently has not yet had sufficient time to study the matter and to understand that it is the Palestinians who have for the past 20 years been an obstacle to reaching an agreement with Israel.”

He added: “If what concerns the prime minister of Sweden in his inaugural address is the situation in the Middle East, he would better focus on the more urgent problems in the region, such as the daily mass murder taking place in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region.”

Isaac Herzog, the leader of Israel’s center-left Labor Party and the head of the opposition, said he had spoken by telephone with the Swedish prime minister, whom he described as a friend, and told him there was “an inherent problem” in his decision. “To adopt a model of unilateral diplomatic activity is a mistake because in the end an agreement has to be reached through negotiations,” he told Army Radio.

But Mr. Herzog said Sweden was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state “tomorrow.”

“They intend to maintain good relations with all the sides,” he said. “They see themselves as a bridge like a classic Scandinavian state.”

Palestine was upgraded to the status of a nonmember observer state of the United Nations by a vote in the General Assembly in November 2012. More than 130 countries now recognize it.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the Swedish announcement “is in fact a sign of a genuine commitment to justice and the requirements for peace, including the two-state solution on the 1967 boundaries.”

For now, Israel appears to be interested in maintaining a dialogue with Sweden and has not suggested any retaliatory measures. An Israeli Foreign Ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate diplomacy, noted that the Swedish government was “brand new” and that Israel did not want to pre-empt or prejudge it.

In a rare gesture to the Palestinians, Israel allowed hundreds of Gaza residents to travel by bus to the Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem for prayers during the Eid al-Adha holiday on Sunday and Monday. It was the first such move since 2007, when Hamas, the Islamic militant group, took control of the Palestinian coastal enclave. In a further easing of restrictions, Israel allowed an increase in exports from Gaza to the West Bank and issued hundreds of permits for family visits between the two Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian Authority unity government, formed in June with the backing of President Mahmoud Abbas of the mainstream Fatah party and Hamas, is planning to hold its first meeting in Gaza on Thursday, in an apparent message to potential donors that it is ready to manage the reconstruction effort there.

Norway is taking a lead role in a donor’s conference for Gaza scheduled to take place Sunday in Cairo.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Israel Protests a Move to Recognize Palestinian State. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe